Ukraine crisis timeline: From the highs of independence to a full-blown war

Here are the key events in Ukraine's history from the Orange Revolution to the conflict in the east.

1990-1991

In a nationwide referendum, Ukraine declares independence from the former USSR and organises its first presidential elections on 1 December 1991.

USSR President Boris Yeltsin waves to the crowd in MoscowREUTERS/Michael Samojeden

December 2004

Viktor Yanukovych, then prime minister, is declared the winner of the presidential elections, which the Supreme Court of Ukraine later declares were rigged. Results cause a public outcry in support of the opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, and the peaceful Orange Revolution bring Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko to power.

2008-09

Amid the 2008-09 Ukrainian financial crisis Ukraine's economy drops by 15%. In 2006 and again in 2009, disputes with Russia briefly stop all gas supplies to Ukraine, leading to gas shortages in other countries.

February 2010

Yanukovych is elected president with 48% of votes, after international observers give the election a clean bill of health.

Supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich's Regions Party sit in a tent near a poster with a portrait of Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko in central Kiev.REUTERS/Konstantin Chernichkin

November 2013

President Yanukovych shies away from a proposed European Union trade agreement that had been in the works.

A participant holds a plastic bag with the blazon of USSR during a pro-Russian rally in central DonetskReuters

Crimea and Sevastopol formally declared independence as the Republic of Crimea. On 18 March, Russian president Vladimir Putin signs a bill to absorb Crimea into the Russian Federation.

The annexation prompts the US and EU to impose sanctions, including travel bans on some of Russia's key figures.

Meanwhile, unrest begins in the Eastern and Southern regions of Ukraine, including in several cities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, parts of Ukraine that together make up the Donbass region.

May 2014

On 11 May, armed men, declaring themselves as local militia, seize government buildings, police and special police stations in several cities of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and hold unrecognised status referendums for Donbass.

A woman carries her belongings in front of an armoured personnel carrier of the separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic army in DebaltseveREUTERS/Baz Ratner

February 2015

On 11 February, a fresh round of peace talks are held in Minsk, and on 12 February, leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany broker a peace deal to alleviate the ongoing war in Donbass. Measures include the pull-out of all heavy weapons by both sides from the frontline.

The EU slaps sanctions on three Russian military leaders, prominent Ukrainian separatists, and a popular singer known as Russia's Frank Sinatra.

March 2015

UK Prime Minister David Cameron creates a fund based on a Cold-War era scheme to help curb Russian influence in eastern Europe. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel adds Russia sanctions will stick until Minsk ceasefire is met, and hints sanctions could be extended until end of 2015.

A woman walks past a building damaged by fighting in DonetskREUTERS/Igor Tkachenko

April 2015

Fighting in the region largely dwindles following the Minsk ceasefire accord signed in February, and an agreement is reached by the Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers on 13 April.

Leaders call for the withdrawal of more weapons from the front line. Meanwhile, a group of 300 US paratroopers arrives in Ukraine to train with Ukrainian national guard units. Kremlin warns the move could "seriously destabilise" the country.

Fighting erupts again in the early hours of 14 April between government troops and pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.